Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Some more form and structure assignments. This time, something a little more like a relief using found objects and working with the 12x12 grid. I didn't really know what to do for this until a week before it was due and started looking at maps of subway systems. I of course chose Tokyo. Having travelled on that system myself and being amazed at the sheer size and organization of it.

It's pretty much cardboard glued onto a 12x12 wood canvas, with pins stuck in it every 2 inches and thread in multiple colours serving as the different subway lines. It's only a section of the map, of course. Because there are at least a dozen lines +. Our teacher wants photos of process, so here they are.

Also, in light of the recent events that have taken place in Japan, I do encourage everyone to donate what they can to help out. It really is a wonderful country, with wonderful people. Everyone I met was so kind and so polite, and this really is a tragedy. I know in Canada you can text ASIA or REDCROSS to 30333 to donate 5$. I believe in the States it is REDCROSS to 90999 for 10$? Either way, there are dozens of ways to donate. So help in any way you can.

Thursday, March 3, 2011

So, when I was about 6 or 7, my lovely little cousin decided he wanted to be a photographer. He picked up my parents' Nikon film SLR, and dropped it onto the concrete floor. Until about a week or so ago, it sat up in our cupboard, supposedly broken and useless. Sort of upsetting, as I never learned how to use it. I doubt I ever even picked the thing up to take photos. Taking photography classes and with nothing to lose, I took it in to work, and voila! Dave fixed it. I now have a working film SLR. With no manual, a loose rewind knob, a dented lens that can't take a filter. But it works.

Took a few test rolls. One of which was a dud because I apparently fail at loading film. I'm really going to have to get better at this.

I think it's a Nikon FE? My parents can't remember what they bought. The thing's almost thirty years old and caked in dust anyways. But I'm fiddling around with it. Maybe I'll have some decent shots to post one day.

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Photography assignment number trois. Another assignment where I won't be able to use my own camera. A little frustrating. But! I get to use the vintage photo I bought of Jean Harlow a couple years back. On the set of Three Wise Girls, the first film I saw her in. I've been reading David Bret's biography on her, and with the way he puts it, it seems as though she really struggled between having a normal family life (the husbands, the want to have a child) and living out her mother's movie star dreams. I'm going to play off that. Crop it, have it printed on fabric, and stitch some text from the bio in. Gotta sew fast though. Due soon.
Here's the photograph.